Thermostatic valve



Nov. 21, 1933.

. A. J. DoNoHUE 1,936,502

THERMOSTATIC VALVE Filed Feb. 15, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l 57- J5 O T21 3/S f5 a .zz l

L 2 B 45 m W24 (/Zz/{ozzy Jozzo/ are Nov. 21, 1933. ,1 J, DONOHUE'1,936,502

THERMOSTATIC VALVE Filed Feb. 16, 1932 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Nov.21, 1933 PATENT OFFICE.

.1,936,502 'rnERMos'rA'rIo VALVE Anthony J. Donohue, Philadelphia, Pa.,assignr to Simplex Gas Products Corporation, JPhiladelphia, Pa., a.corporation of Delaware Application Februaryl, 1932. Serial No. 593,339

12 Claims.

This invention relates to thermostatic valves, and more particularly tothermostatic valves operated through the medium of a thermostaticelement of the type usually referred to as the Spencer disc.

An important object of the present invention is the provision in a valveof this character of an arrangement such that the valve proper may bemoved through a distance considerably greater than the distance throughwhich the thermostatic disc moves and maintainedin such position withoutthe use of levers or other intermediaries upon which Wear would have anyserious effects in the operation of the valve.

A further and more specific object of the invention is the provision inan apparatus of this character of means whereby a disc-type thermostatoperating with a snap motion may exert its forces to toss a valve fromits seat a distance greater than that through which the disc moves,together with means for latching the valve in its elevated position.

A further object of the invention is the provision in an apparatus ofthe character just described of a latching means so constructed that itmay be released to effect a preparatory closing movement of the valve sothat the valve is partially closed without a complete closure, and islocked to the thermostatic disc to be closed by the reflex actionthereof, thereby eliminating burner "pop which would result were theclosing action of the valve instantaneous.

These and other objects I attain by the construction shown in the'accompanying drawings wherein, for the purpose of illustration, I haveshown a preferred embodiment of my invention and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partially in section showing a valveconstructed in accordance with my invention employed to control the flowof gas and secondary air'in a gas furnace;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the valve with the lower cover plateremoved;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation, partially in section, of the valve; y

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view with the parts in the positionwhich they occupy after initial operation of the heating element andprior to operation of the thermostatic disci and Fig. 6 is asemi-diagrammatic View showing the electrical control connections forthe valve.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 10generally designates a valve casing having the usual partition 11 formedwith a seat 12 for a valve generally designated at 13. The casing has anopening 14 in alignment with the seat, this opening having a flange 15receiving the ange 16 of an operating casing 17 containing mechanismthrough which the valve is actuated. The valve is equipped with a stem18 projecting into the operating casing 17 and, preferably, sealed atits point of entrance in the operating casing by means of a diaphragm19.

The operating casing 17 affords vertically spaced bearings 20 and 21 forguiding the valve stem 18 and below the lowermost bearing is disposed aexed bimetallic disc 22 capable of moving with a snap from one toanother of two positions upon a predetermined change in temperature.This disc is secured at its edges in any suitable manner, being atpresent shown as confined by means of circular rim 23 having a' groove24 on its inner face for the reception of the outer edge of the disc. Atthe under surface of the disc a heating element 26 is disposed, which isadapted for connection with the thermostatic control circuit in themanner of the heating elements associated with the thermostatic discdisclosed in my prior application, Serial No. 382,144, filed July 30,1929, for Thermostatic burner control.

Secured centrally to the disc 22 is a tubular guide 27 which guide hasits lower end closed as indicated at 28 and its upper end open toreceive the lower end of stem 18 which normally, by gravity, tends torest upon the lower end 28 of the guide and is freely vertically movablein the guide. The guide has pivotally connected thereto a rocker 29having a pair of latch arms 30 and 31 projecting toward the stem, thearm 30 operating through an opening 32 formed in the guide 27 and beingequipped at its inner end with a roller 33. Arm 31 at its free end isprovided with a latch piece having upwardly and downwardly facingshoulders 34 and 35 for co-action with the 95 upper and lower endsrespectively of a latch piece 36 carried by and disposed in a recess 37formed in the stem 18. The arms are so proportioned that when the latchpiece of arm 31 is withdrawn from the recess 37 roller 33 will beprojected into the path of the lower end of the stem or against the sideof the stem depending upon the position of the stem, disengagement ofthe latch piece of the arm from the latch piece 36 of the stem occurringat the time when the roller is engaged against the side of the stemshouldit be disposed in the path thereof. A light spring 38 constantyurges rotation of the rocker about the PiYQt 39 thereof in a directionsuch that rollerv33 constantly tends to project into the path of thestem or against the same.

Supported from the casing 17 through a bracket arm 40 is a bell cranklever 41 one arm of which has a roller 42 engaging the upper end ofrocker 29 and the lower end of which has a depending arm portion 43provided with an adjustable stop 44 arranged in the path of the free endof a bimetallic strip 45 which is likewise subjected to heat radiated byheating element 26 and which when cooled abuts the stop 44 elevating theassociated arm of bell crank 41 and forcing roller 42 into engagementwith the rocker 29 with sufficient force to overcome the action ofspring 38 and cause the latch element to move toward and into engagementwith the stem 18 of the latch piece 36 thereof.

Assuming that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 5, which isthe position which they will assume after energization of heatingelement 26 through a period suflicient to actuate bimetallic leaf 45without effecting the actuation of disc 22, the flexing of leaf 45 haspermitted the roller bearing arm of bell crank 41 to recede and thuspermitted the rocker 42 to be actuated by its spring 38 to a positionWhere the roller 33 is engaged against the sufrface of the stem 18, thelower end of stem 18 resting upon the closed end 28 of guide 27. Aslight continued heating with the parts in this position will causeactuation of disc 22 which, moving with the characteristic movement ofsuch discs, snaps upwardly imparting its motion to stem 18. Movement ofthe guide 27 being limitedv by its attachment to the disc, the stem 18with its attached valve 13 continues to rise after movement of the guidehas been checked so that the lower end of the stem is thrown aboveroller 33 and spring 38 acts to project the roller beneath the stem andthus prevent it against falling to the bottom of the guide 27 so thatthe parts are then in the position illustrated in Fig. 1. With the partsin this posit'ion, assuming that energization of heating elements 26 isdiscontinued, both the thermostatic disc 22 and leaf 45 begin to cooland since the latter is actuated more quickly, the leaf first acts toraise the stop 44 and thus force roller 42 into engagement with rocker29 actuating the same to a position Where the roller 33 releases thevalve stem permitting the same to drop. It will be recalled that thedisc at this time has its camber upwardly disposed so that the valve isheld slightly off its seat when the stem has dropped into engagementwith the closed bottom 28 of the guide 27. The shoulder 35 of the latchpiece of arm 31 of the rocker engages over the upper end of the latchpiece 36 of the stem so that the stem and guide are locked together. Asthe cooling action continues disc 22 is actuated, snapping to theposition shown in Fig. 5, with the result that the valve stem is movedrapidly downwardly to the closed position of the valve. In order thatregulation of the force of engagement of valve 13 with its seat may behad, the stem 18 is loosely directed through the valve and provided atits upper end with an adjustable head 46 confined in a pocket 46a formedin the upper portion of the valve. By adjustment of this head,regulation of the extent of engagement of the valve may be had from nopressure to substantially the full pressure exertable by the disc.

In order that the valve may be manually actuated, when this is foundnecessary, I provide a lever 47 which extends through slots 48 and 49formed in the actuator casing 17 and is pivoted indicated at 50 and ltothe valve stem as indicatedat 5l. One end of this lever is formed vwitha hand grip 52 while the opposite end thereof is adapted for connectionas at 53 with a secondary air door 54 or other element to be actuatedsimultaneously with opening of the valve. .I additionally-provide rocker29 with an extension arm 55 projecting through an opening 56 formed inthe casing wall and through operation of which the rocker may bemanipulated to disengage the latch element of arm 31 from the latchelement 36 of the valve stem. Such disengagement having beenaccomplished, the lever 47 may be actuated to elevate the valve from itsseat, at which time \the arm 55 is released. Since the bell crank lever41 is at this time operating to maintain the rocker 29 in position withlts latch elements against the valve stem, the shoulder 34 of fthe latchelement will, by its engagement beneath the latch element 36 of valvestem 18, maintain this valve stem in elevated position. If, with theparts in this position, the automatic action is restored and the actionof the heating element initiated, the snap of the disc in response toheating will cause a suiiicient up-throw of the valve to disengage thelatch elements of arm 3l and stem 18 and permit the rocker to operateunder the influence of its spring to a position where its roller 33intercepts and supports the vvalve through its stem. Attention isdirected to the fact that the lever 47 in addition to forming a meansfor manually operating the valve also serves as a means for preventingrotation of the valve stem. In order that rotation of sleeve guide 27may be prevented this guide may be provided with a rod 57 operatingthrough an opening in the spider 58 supporting the lower guide bearing21 of the valve stem.

The heating element comprises an annular insulating base about which iswound a pair of heating resistances 26a and 27a, the resistance 27aincluding the resistance 26a, as more 4clearly shown in thesemi-diagrammatic Fig. 6 and being shunted by a switch comprising springblades B and B tending to disengage contacts carried thereby throughtheir own resiliency. The upper blade is disposed in the path of thelower end of the guide fastening and, when the disc is downwardlyconvexed, is engaged by an insulating contactor C carried by this guidefastening and urged into engagement with the lower blade B', thusclosing the circuit and shunting out the excess portion of theresistance leaving only the resistance 26a. It will be noted that thisarrangement is identical with that suggested in my prior application,insofar as the substitution of heating resistances is concerned, thepresent arrangement having merely been adopted because it permits ofdirect operation of the switch by the thermostatic element and admits ofa more compact arrangement of the switch than could otherwise beprovided.

As the construction hereinbefore set forth is obviously capable of aconsiderable range of change and modification without in any mannerdeparting from the spirit of my invention, I do not wish to beunderstood as limiting myself thereto except as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, an elementmoving with a snap from one to another of two positions in one of which,

the valve is operatively engaged therewith, means for causing movementof the element, means for applying the energy released by the element inits movement from said position to the other .of its positions to tossthe valve from its 'seat a distance greater than the distance throughwhich the element moves, a catch carried by said element for preventingreturn of the valve to its seat, and means for releasing the catch whilethe element is still in said other position to thereby permit a partialreturn of the valve to its seat which is checked by engagement of thevalve with the element.

2. A valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, an elementmoving with a snap from one to another of two positions in one of whichthe valve is operatively engaged therewith, means for causing movementof the element, means for applying the energy released by the element inits movement from said position to the other of its positions to tossthe valve from its seat a distance greater than the distance throughwhich the element moves, means for preventing return of the valve to itsseat, means for releasing the last-named means while the element isstill in said other position to thereby permit a partial return of thevalve to its seat which is checked by engagement of the valve with theelement, and means for latching the valve to the element prior to itsreturn to its original position. y

3. A valve assembly comprising a valve, af'seat therefor, an elementmoving with a snap from one to another of two positions in one of whichthe valve is operatively engaged therewith, means for causing movementof the element, means for applying the energy released by the element inits movement from said position to the other of its positions to tossthe valve from its seat a distance greater than the distance throughwhich the element moves, a catch carried by said element for preventingreturn of the valve to its seat, means for releasing the catch while theelement is still in said other position to thereby permit a partialreturn of the valve to its seat which is checked by engagement of thevalve with the element, and means for latching the valve to the elementprior to its return to its original position. l

4. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element when the element is in one of saidpositions, and means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said positionv to the other position to toss the valvefrom its seated position a distance greater than the distance throughwhich the element moves.

5. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element when the element is in one of saidpositions, means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said position to the other position to toss the valve fromits seated position a distance greater than the distance through whichthe element moves, and means for preventing return of the valve to itsseat.

6. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element when the element is in one of saidpositions, means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said position to the other position to toss the valve fromits seatedposition a distance greater than the distance through whichthe element moves, and means carried by the thermostatic element andengaging the valve to prevent its return to its seat.

7. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element'when the element is in one of saidpositions, means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said position to the other position to toss the valve fromits seated position a distance greater than the distance through whichthe element moves, a catch carried by the thermostatic element andengaging the valve to prevent its return to its seat, and means forreleasing the catch while the element is still in said other position tothereby permit a partial return of the valve to its seat which ischecked by engagement of the valve with the element.

8. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element when the element is in one of saidpositions, means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said position to the other position to toss the valve fromits seated position a distance greater than the distance through whichthe element moves, a catch carried by the thermostatic element andengaging the valve to prevent its return to its seat, means forreleasing the catch while the element is still in said other position tothereby permit a partial return of the valve to its seat which ischecked by engagement of the valve with the element, and means forlatching the valve to the element prior to its return to its originalposition.

9. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element when the element is in one of saidpositions, means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said position to the other position to toss the valve fromits seated position a distance greater than the distance through whichthe element moves, and a thermostatically-operated means for preventingreturn of the valve to its seat.

10. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element when the element is in one of saidpositions, means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said position to the other position to toss the valve fromits seated position a distance greater than the distance through whichthe element moves, a thermostatically-operated catch for preventingreturn of the valve to its seat, and a common heating means forcontrolling operation of the thermostatic element and latch.

11. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element when the element is in one of saidpositions, means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said position to the other position to toss the valve fromits seated position a distance greater than the distance through whichthe element moves, a catch carried by the thermostatic element andengaging the valve to prevent its return to its seat, means forreleasing the catch while the element is still in said other position tothereby permit a partial return of the Valve toits seat which is checkedby engagement of the valve with the element, means for latching thevalve to the element prior to its return to its original position, and athermostat controllingoperation of said catch and latching means.

12. A thermostatic valve assembly comprising a valve, a seat therefor, athermostatic element moving with a snap from one to another of twopositions as its temperature is raised or lowered, said valve beingoperatively engaged with the element when the element is in one of saidpositions, means for applying energy released by the element in itsmovement from said position to the other position to toss the valve fromits seated position a distance greater than the distance through whichthe element r'noves, a catch carried by the thermostatic element andengaging the valve to prevent its return to its seat, means forreleasing the catch While the element is still in said other position tothereby permit a partial return of the valve to its seat which ischecked by engagement of the valve with the element, means for latchingthe valve to the element prior to its return to its original position,a. thermostat controlling operation of said catch and latching means,and a single heating means controlling operation of said thermostats.

ANTHONY J. DONOHUE.

